Sacramento Kings veterans are getting miffed about their current predicament

DJ Dunson
The Kings struggles are beginning to grate at the nerves of their vets. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
The Kings struggles are beginning to grate at the nerves of their vets. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

George Hill, Zach Randolph, and Vince Carter feel like they were sold a bill of good by the Sacramento Kings. The Kings’ off-season acquisitions of George Hill, 31, Zach Randolph, 36, and Vince Carter, 40, was one of the most perplexing front office strategies in the NBA and it’s becoming a precarious situation as we head into the New Year.

A little more than a week ago, Hill expressed displeasure through cryptic Twitter emojis following a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

According to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, things may be on the verge of boiling over in Sacramento.

Scott Perry was named the New York Knicks general manager in July, but Vlade Divac and much of the same front office structure is still in place. This was never going to be a team competing for a playoff spot. Five years ago, Hill, Carter and Randolph would be intriguing. But not when their only former All-Stars are all years past their prime, Hill is the highest-paid player and their best talent is still a teenager.

Sacramento’s senescent trio are an anachronism, but have value. Randolph is still an occasional double-double threat night. George Hill is a stable floor leader and and mentor for Fox, who isn’t ready to lead an NBA offense full-time. But they never quite made sense in the context of a young team still trying to forge franchise cornerstones out of their current lottery picks.

Hill agreed to a three-year, $57 million deal after the Kings drafted Fox and Frank Mason. Hill and Fox are the fulcrums of the backcourt, but are a incompatible when they share the floor. Randolph has pilfered minutes from Skal Labissiere and Willie Cauley-Stein. Carter is the only one of Sacramento’s senescent trio playing meager minutes, but instead of finding a nice hammock on a contender’s sideline to swing in, or spending his dotage on a rising playoff squad, he opted to join a franchise stuck in purgatory. Even Garret Temple, 31, is playing more minutes than Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

And to what end? The Kings are a middle of the lottery team at best. They currently possess the fifth-worst record in the NBA. In a draft with five franchise players before the talent dips considerable, Sacramento is in danger of wasting another draft brimming with superstar potential at the top. Keep your eyes on the Kings vets eyeing an escape as the trade deadline looms.